28 November, 2009

Green screen (like its predecessor, blue screen) is another term for an editing technique that the Hollywood pros call Chroma Key. The idea is that you tell your computer to replace every pixel of a certain color (like vibrant green) with new footage. In other words, anything that’s not green (like the actor) gets superimposed onto thebackground stuff. This is how Superman flew, how Neo dodged bullets in The Matrix, how The Daily Show correspondents seem to be in Paris or Iraq or Washington, and how TV actors never seem to hit anyone when they’re in driving scenes and paying no attention to the road. The actors performed their scenes with smooth green fabric filling the car windows; later, editors (and their computers) replaced all patches of green with passing scenery. Watching actors in front of a green screen can be quite funny. They have to pretend they’re being chased through the jungle by a dinosaur, when in fact they’re sitting in a nondescript studio with its walls painted green, without so much as a vine in sight. Green replaced blue as the most popular color for this technique because digital cameras are most sensitive to green. (Blue remains the runner-up, which is why it’s sometimes used in place of green. But in iMovie, green is your only option.) Of course, this also means you can’t wear green clothes in the shot, unless you are intentionally going for the floating-disembodied-head-thing.

Like most creative processes (such as making a movie, creating a graphic novel, and so on), the game industry has a definite process and lifecycle involved with a new project. In the video game industry, the process of creating a new title pretty much follows this cycle:

● Concept/R & D

● Preproduction

● Production

● Testing/QA

● Postproduction

The concept phase of game development is time spent defining the game that you are about to create—both creatively and technically. This time involves choosing the type of game you are going to make—RPG (role-playing game), FPS (first-person shooter), MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), and so on; determining the game elements and features that will be involved in game play (story, characters, game options, and so on); and working out the details for the future marketing of the title, such as the genre of the game (horror, adventure, and so on), the platforms/consoles the game will be played on, and the game’s projected rating. This collaborative process usually involves the producers, lead designers, and the creative director of the game.

27 November, 2009

Upon initial contact with the game industry, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of responsibility involved with creating a new game title. In addition to the pressure associated with creating a game that will sell well and be received with enthusiasm by the gaming public, the actual work involved with development weighs in heavily. These responsibilities include working with the game’s budget, streamlining the production process, and managing a team and assets that grow and change on a daily basis. A typical game title can cost many millions of dollars and involve a very long-term commitment (sometimes as long as four to five years), so the pressure to create a franchise or successful title can be massive indeed. Understanding the production process allows you as a game producer to roll with the inevitable changes and challenges that come with the development of a game and empowers you to manage your project efficiently. More importantly, it will allow the game to be completed, which is always a plus when dealing with game publishers! Utilizing the cinematic skills of a filmmaker in addition to the usual game development model within the various phases of game development allows you shape the project into a more marketable and, hopefully, more enjoyable title.

23 November, 2009

Sport is all about heroes and their achievements. Look for photographs of sporting heroes whether in action or in quieter, more reflective moments. And while heroes for the sporting public at large might be NFL quarterbacks or major league baseball stars, your sporting hero could be your own son or daughter competing in Little League. Getting good shots of your sporting hero is simplified to some extent because you can concentrate solely on them and their efforts rather than on the entire event. Access to professional sportsmen will not be as easy, but you can still shoot from the stands and occasionally there will be photo opportunities at spring training or similar events. On the other hand, photographing your Little Leaguer or high school Athlete will be less complicated. You’ve still got to produce the images, but you’ll have a better chance of getting close to the subject. It involves lot of ideologies and techniques. They can say as much about a game as the jubilation photographs. Look for the downcast player on the bench, head in hands nor covered by a towel, disappointed fans shaking their heads in disbelief, an exhausted player slumped over, dejection written all over his or her face. A photograph of dejected players in the foreground with the all-revealing final scoreboard in the background has poignancy about it that any viewer with an ounce of sporting empathy will appreciate.

22 November, 2009

There are many people who make a living off of gambling. But percentage wise, it's a small number. I don't have any illusions about quitting my job to make a casino living in Vegas. I like to go and spend small amounts of money for the entertainment value. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. Because I have seen first hand what can happen in a casino,the first thing you need when starting is a PLAN. How much are you going to lose or win? How long will you stay at the casino? Basic things like that will determine who the winners are and who the losers will be. Let me tell you a brief story to illustrate. I was working at a small "video poker" casino. My shift was from 4 PM to midnight. Shortly after I started, a customer came into my room. We started talking and he mentioned he had his whole paycheck with him, about $400. He said, with a big smile, he was going to play for a while. After about an hour, he was breaking even. All of a sudden he hit a straight flush on a large bet and was $400 up for the night. Double what he came in with, and that was a lot for him. A week of pay. After I gave him his cash out money, I suggested that he leave and come back again the next day. Of course, he stayed and played. And played. By the time my shift was over he was still there, down to $40 but kept on playing. I went out for a late nite beer, leaving him to play on. The next night, he was back. He came over to me and said "I sure wish I would have listened to you". He ended up getting home with $80 when he could have left (and should have left) with $800. The moral of the story is that you will NEVER win if you don't leave when you are ahead. But my experience has shown that the hardest thing to do is leave while you are up. That is the main reason so many people lose. Think back to some of your times at the casino when you lost. I would bet that at some point you were actually ahead before the odds caught up with you. Why wasn't that enough? How much do you need to win before it is enough? You MUST always have a set amount that you are willing to walk out at. If you bring a $100 into the casino, would you leave if you turned it into $150 in 30 minutes? Maybe it would take $200 for you. At some point, you have to say "I'm going home a winner tonight". If you don't, you will certainly end up going home a loser. A successful gambler knows a strategy that doesn't take the winnings when they are there to take will always end up as a losing strategy. Don't be afraid to cash out and run. Some days you will win, others you will lose. But if you stay too long your winning nights will also turn out to be losers.

20 November, 2009

Game theory is actually an older concept that was developed in the 1940s to study the decisions that players make when presented with a choice. The book Theory of Games and Economicn Behavior by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern (Princeton University Press, 1944) introduced the idea that when players are playing a game, they will always choose the path that

offers the most gain to the player. Besides being used to develop games, this theory has been applied to economics, animal behavior, and sociological issues. When planning your project, game theory can be a great tool to use when placing the gamer in situations where choices must be made regarding the fate of the game’s protagonist (again, this is a great subject worth reading more about—pick up Neumann and Morgenstern’s book for a lot more detail). These choices all have consequences (good or bad, whichever is determined by the designer) and spawn new directions in which the game can travel. Also, as a game producer, it is important to keep this theory in mind when reviewing the game’s design documentation, the story, and game play features.

18 November, 2009

There are plenty of ways to win and lose money in a very short space of time on the spreads; these 'opportunities' attract those who like the feeling of a furious adrenaline rush. They are, from the point of view of the companies, the best clients. A gamble is not a gamble unless it is a large one and it may take ever-increasing stakes to produce the same buzz. A long drawn out event in which the result slowly becomes evident is unattractive to this breed – they much prefer the crucial 'do or die' moment to set the pulse racing. in Association with Sporting Index The main difficulty with the long term finacnial prospects of the thrill seeker is that he is more concerned about spicing up sporting events with a wager than consistently making money from them. The spread companies are keen to promote markets that attract this type of punter. The ultimate thrill seeker's ride is with markets where the spread is measured in seconds, for example, the number of seconds a boxing match lasts, or even the no longer standard bet of the first throw-in in a game of football. Even the stately game of cricket isn't without its stomach churning markets. If you are so inclined you may bet on the out-come of the balls bowled in the first over of the test match. Thrill seekers pursue an entirely different betting philosophy to serious gamblers. They tend to be attracted by risk and seek out bets that are, by their nature, governed mostly by chance. This distinguishes them from the generally more successful gamblers who are mostly concerned about eliminating risk.

15 November, 2009

For all general theoretical purposes the Bishop and the Knight have to be considered as of the same value, though it is my opinion that the Bishop will prove the more valuable piece in most cases; and it is well known that two Bishops are almost always better than two Knights. The Bishop will be stronger against pawns than the Knight, and in combination with pawns will also be stronger against the Rook than the Knight will be. A Bishop and a Rook are also stronger than a Knight and a Rook, but a Queen and a Knight may be stronger than a Queen and a Bishop. A Bishop will often be worth more than three pawns, but a Knight very seldom so, and may even not be worth so much. A Rook will be worth a Knight and two pawns, or a Bishop and two pawns, but as said before, the Bishop will be a better piece against the Rook. Two Rooks are slightly stronger than a Queen. They are slightly weaker than two Knights and a Bishop, and a little more so than two Bishops and a Knight. The power of the Knight decreases as the pieces are changed off.

14 November, 2009

Upon initial contact with the game industry, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of responsibility involved with creating a new game title. In addition to the pressure associated with creating a game that will sell well and be received with enthusiasm by the gaming public, the actual work involved with development weighs in heavily. These responsibilities include working with the game’s budget, streamlining the production process, and managing a team and assets that grow and change on a daily basis. A typical game title can cost many millions of dollars and involve a very long-term commitment (sometimes as long as four to five years), so the pressure to create a franchise or successful title can be massive indeed. Understanding the production process allows you as a game producer to roll with the inevitable changes and challenges that come with the development of a game and empowers you to manage your project effi ciently. More importantly, it will allow the game to be completed, which is always a plus when dealing with game publishers! Utilizing the cinematic skills of a filmmaker in addition to the usual game development model within the various phases of game development allows you shape the project into a more marketable and, hopefully, more enjoyable title.

11 November, 2009

Though testing/QC is often thought as a process that occurs at the end of production and the truth of the matter is that the testing of a game occurs throughout the development cycle. As a matter of planning, it should be determined early in the production process whether an internal or external QA team will be utilized during the development of the game, as this decision can affect the schedule and budget immensely. This phase usually ends with the QA department comparing the final product against the original game plan to determine its validity (Alpha and Beta testing), and the release of the fi nal version of the game (sometimes called “ code release ” or the Gold Master). At this point, your moves on to various locales for approval. In addition to getting the game to the publisher, the manufacturers of all consoles the game will be played on must approve the title as well. All major platforms will have their own sets of criteria that must be met for the game to be approved for release on their console. Also, the game must be sent to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to receive the game’s rating. Without a rating, most major software vendors and retailers will not carry your title. If the game is being released in other countries, it will also have to be sent to the appropriate ratings boards in those locales. Once the game has been give the thumbs-up by all concerned and you have received the offi cial rating of the game, the final version of the game can now be sent to the publisher. The next and fi nal phase of development is known as postproduction.

08 November, 2009

The evolution of games is a fascinating subject. With origins that are deeply rooted in arcade-style games, the game industry has evolved over the last few decades into a realm of many different game styles and genres. Though most of the game types we commonly see today originated in the 1980s, there are still new game styles emerging on a regular basis. The types of players gamers have also evolved during this period. Gamers today have a way of micro-organizing game genres— as the field becomes more diversified, more and more types of games are appearing on shelves. It is important to know these various types of games, if for no other reason than to realize there are many different types of gamers; a player who loves first person shooters will not be as attracted to a football game as a sports gamer. Although this is not a complete list, here are the several major types of games that are being developed:

● First-person shooter (FPS)

● Role-playing game (RPG)

● Massively multiplayer online game (MMOG)

● Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)

● Third-person shooter

● Real-time strategy (RTS)

● Sports

● Action (racing, fi ghting, and so on)

● Simulation

● Casual/arcade

The FPS is hands down one of the two most popular genres. mWith origins deeply rooted in the early games of id Software (Doom, Quake, and so on), the shooter has come a long way. Developers like Ubisoft and Bungie have made titles like Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon , Halo , and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six household names.

05 November, 2009

Hybrid vehicles are part electrical and part mechanical. The electrical definitions apply to the electrical part of the hybrid vehicle. Batteries are classified as primary batteries or secondary batteries. A primary battery cannot be recharged, and, therefore, is of little use in a hybrid. The chemical reactions providing the electrical energy are irreversible. A secondary battery, which has reversible reactions, can be charged and discharged. The basic unit of a battery is the voltaic cell, or just cell. Appendix 6.1 discusses the cell and gives the component parts, anode, cathode, and electrolyte, that form the basic unit. Batteries are composed of collections of cells. Typically, cells have a voltage of less than 4 V. Each cell has a voltage depending on the electrochemical potential of the chemicals. Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) has cell potential of 1.2 V. Lead acid has a cell potential of 2 V. To increase voltage, cells are placed in series end-to-end. A 12 V lead acid battery has six cells in series. Nominally the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery has a cell voltage of 3.6–4.3 V. Four features are used quantitatively to describe the battery: current, voltage, energy, and power. These features can be described by analogy or defined by precise scientific definitions that can be found in any physics textbook. A water hose is useful as an analogy. The amount of water fl owing through the hose is analogous to electrical current. The unit for electrical current is ampere. The water hose analogy for voltage is pressure. High pressure water in the hose has lots of voltage. An appropriate analogy for a storage battery is a water dam. When the water depth behind the dam is zero, the battery is dead. When the dam is full of water, the battery is charged.

02 November, 2009

The systems shown here are all workable systems and will help you to win more money while you are out playing. Gambling is always a lot more fun if you win. The reality is that none of them are any better than the person playing them. A bad gambler with a good system is still going to lose. A good player with a bad system is no better off. You should work on improving not only your system, but yourself as a player. That is the benefit of every one of these products. One they never seem to mention on the sales page. All of the products will help you become a more informed (better) player as a side effect of reading the material. When you have reached the point of being both a good player, and having a good system, that is when you will start making money at the tables. You should invest as much as possible in your education. The best players have dabbled with many systems in their careers. They have studied and learned all of the best ways to play their game and found what works best for them. As a gambler you will succeed or fail based on what you know about the game you are playing, and what you know about yourself.